IBM Cozies Up With China, Offers To Share Technology To Help Build IT Infrastructure

Hot on the heels of its announcement that a Chinese tech company will be making Power8-style processors, IBM is taking further steps to publicly ally with China. IBM’s CEO and Chairperson Virginia Rometty attended the China Development Forum this week, where she discussed IBM’s stance on doing business with Chinese tech companies.

“If you’re a country, as China is, of 1.3 billion people you would want an IT industry as well, Rometty said, according to Reuters. She went on to say that, where other companies might be frightened by the prospect, IBM considers it a “great opportunity.”

(Image credit: IBM)

China’s government is pushing to improve the capabilities of domestic tech companies, while pressuring outside companies that want to sell to China without getting directly involved in building China’s tech industry. Wary of being squeezed out, some companies are allying themselves with Chinese manufacturers in an effort to keep a toehold. China’s recent actions likely due in part to revelations of NSA spying revealed by Edward Snowden.

IBM will be sharing some intellectual property with companies in China to help build its tech industry as part of Rometty’s new strategy. Although the move will be important to IBM’s sales in China, at least one analyst has suggested that the company’s cloud computing efforts will also need to be a top priority for continued growth. Suzhou PowerCore Technology Company and others have already joined the OpenPOWER foundation.